Minister promises $15.5m for Fremantle box-rail
Increased use of rail in moving freight to and from Fremantle port has been promised by the Western Australian government as part of $15.5m in funding. Top of Form
Transport minister Troy Buswell said the government had approved the continuation of the rail subsidy until 2016/17 at a cost of $15.5m.
“Rail is playing a significant role in achieving greater efficiency in Fremantle port’s supply chain while reducing the impacts of truck traffic on the community,†Mr Buswell said.
“The state government remains strongly committed to increasing the rail share for container trade as a central strategy in securing the long term future of the inner harbour.â€
He said a key strategy is to increase the amount of freight moved by rail to ease pressure on roads and reducing truck congestion at the port.
“Transporting more containers on rail is taking pressure off the road system, with the state government’s financial support assisting rail to be more price-competitive with road transport across short haul distances,†Mr Buswell said.
He said rail accounts for about 14% of the total number of containers transported through the port. “With this increased use of rail for transporting container freight and with more trucks picking up empty containers from Forrestfield rather than at Fremantle, there are an estimated 100,000 fewer truck movements annually on roads linking with the port.â€
DP World to upgrade Melbourne terminal operations
Stevedore DP World will shut down at its Melbourne terminal for 24 hours on March 10 – March 11 as it upgrades its IT operating system.
Vessel and road operations will be put on hold between 2200 on Sunday, March 10 and 2200 March 11 at the terminal, while the stevedore upgrades to the SPARCS N4 Terminal Operating System. DP World’s online Melbourne customer portal will be offline throughout the stoppage as well.
“The outage will affect access to the terminal system during the upgrade,†DP World told customers. “This includes Customs and all 1-Stop Messaging systems.â€
But the short stoppage will be worth the trouble, DP World said.
“This major investment by DP World Australia is required to provide our business, and more importantly our customers, the level of service required in Melbourne now, and well into the future,†the stevedore said.
First developed in 2006, the SPARCS N4 Terminal Operating System is employed in over 50 terminals worldwide. Installation of the SPARCS N4 system is also part of DP World’s development plans for its Brisbane terminal and the system was installed at its Port Botany terminal in 2010.
Source: Lloyds List Feb 2013
Lines to push for US$300 teu hike on import boxes
An ambitious push on general rate increases is planned for mid-to-end March, timed to coincide with a planned squeeze on capacity.
Shipping lines will push for a US$300 hike per teu on import boxes in late March to bring the current figure up over the four digit mark, which lines regard as the minimum for breakeven, sources have said.
This push is planned to coincide with a reduction in carrier capacity, particularly with the exit of shipping line Posa (owned by Hai Nan Economical Council of China) from the Australian market. An executive at Posa, previously commented that the: “Chinese network of agents always filled the vessels southbound – often there was no space left even to load an empty reefer box to Australia.â€
Additionally, liner executives said that, in addition to the exit of Posa, carriers are reducing capacity by blanking out sailings. Another added that while: “it’s a hard rate to increase during the lean season, all the lines are pushing for it now. It’s quite ambitious but it is necessary. Import rates need to cover export rates and stevedoring.â€
Source: Lloyds List Feb 2013
New box design allows for higher payloads
More space for pallets and faster container stuffing/unstuffing is now possible following a re-design of the interior of the standard shipping container.
UK-based Container Group Technology (CGT) has redesigned the interior of the standard shipping container to create more space.
It is calling its new container design the 20-20. CGT says that the increase will allow 36% greater pallet space to provide 100% utilisation of the container and also faster loading/discharge at ports.
The volume increase in itself is only marginal – up from the standard internal container dimensions of 6058mm long x 2330mm wide to new dimensions of 6096mm long and 2426mm wide. But, in practical terms that means 15 pallets of 1200mm x 800mm can be loaded into a standard ISO 20ft container instead of 11 such pallets.
CGT’s new container can also take 12 rather than ten standard ISO pallets of 1200mm x 1000mm. The door opening width is 2408mm which allows fork-lift trucks to load pallets two or three at a time, thereby enabling faster stuffing/unstuffing of the box.
CGT adds that, owing to 100% use of the floor area and resulting ‘snug’ fit, then the 20-20 container is more suited to using lightweight slip-sheets or paper pallets to help reduce costs.
Two 20-20 containers can also be locked together from the outside with no special tools to make a 40ft container but with greater internal volume than standard. Two 20-20 containers will carry six more pallets than one standard 40ft container.
The company adds that two 20ft containers can be stuffed then locked together with the doors facing each other thereby increasing the security of the containers.
Swire to begin Bell Bay service
A monthly international shipping service is to begin operating from the port of Bell Bay, ending two years of isolation of Tasmania by global shipping. The new Swire Shipping multi-purpose service is expected to focus on the movement of aluminium from the Bell Bay Aluminium company, but also have room for 200 to 300 containers.
The new service is expected account for about 10 to 15% of international containerised cargo through northern Tasmania. This is some way short of the capacity of the AAA service that operated until April 2011.
Bob Gozzi from the Tasmanian Exporters Group said the development was no “silver bullet†to Tasmanian freight issues but was nonetheless encouraging.
“Bell Bay Aluminium will have first call on the service and there will be some capacity, but it won’t be a silver bullet to the international container freight issues, but it is certainly a step in the right direction,†Mr Gozzi said.
The exact route is still be clarified but is expected to form part of Swire Shipping's current South-East Asia multi-purpose route which loops through Singapore and ports in Queensland and northern New South Wales.
Tasmanian Infrastructure minister David O'Byrne told local media there was no government funding involved. Tasmanian Freight and Logistics Council chief executive Rob McGuire welcomed the announcement, saying it would “release capacity†on the Tasmania-Bass Strait route.
Green light for Port of Melbourne upgrade
Victorian planning minister Matthew Guy has given the ‘green light’ to begin the $1.6bn Port Capacity Project. Top of Form
The project will upgrade of the Port of Melbourne.
Ports minister Denis Napthine said the government was committed to ensuring Melbourne remained the nation's freight and logistics capital.
“The expansion of the port will deliver substantial economic benefits to Victoria by providing 1100 direct jobs and 1900 indirect positions while catering for the forecast demand in freight,†Dr Napthine said.
“This decision to develop Webb Dock was required to prevent the state economy from going into meltdown due to debilitating congestion in our ports.â€Â Dr Napthine said the decision means works at Webb Dock can begin, enabling Melbourne’s third container terminal and new, world-class automotive facilities to be operational in late 2016.
 Information on certification for known consignors
The transitional period for known consignors ends on March 25, 2013. The Security Declarations previously submitted by many consignors will expire at that time.
Companies wishing to have their air cargo considered secure after this date, exempting it from standard security screening procedures before being loaded onto the aircraft, must be certified as “known consignors†by the
respective national aviation security authority pursuant to chapter 6.4.1.1 of Commission Regulation (EU) 185/2010. The authority in Germany is the Luftfahrtbundesamt (LBA- Federal Aviation Office). Companies can only be certified if they have submitted an air cargo security program and have been audited by the relevant authority.
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As part of the air cargo security program, companies are required to describe their compliance with a wide range of security standards. These requirements also include that air cargo must be protected against interference by third
parties. This can be achieved by ensuring that the facility itself is secure and that technical and staffing measures (security controls) are in place.
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The LBA has published a template for creating a security program for known consignors to streamline and standardize the process. Find out more on the EU Commission‘s website or contact your national aviation safety authority.
All companies not certified as “known consignors†must deliver their cargo to carriers as “not secured.†In this case an approved Regulated Agent can arrange for screening measures before loading of the cargo into an aircraft.
Australian container trade statistics improve in 2012
Australian imports and exports of containers improved about 9% in 2012 on levels from the previous year, according to the latest figures from Container Trades Statistics.
Imports to Australia in 2012 totalled 2.9m teu, up 9.26% on the 2011 figure of 2.7m teu.
Box exports from Australia also held up, increasing from 2.1m teu in 2011 to 2.3m teu in 2012.
Asian box figures failed to fare as well as the Australia trades in 2012 with both imports and exports seeing a decrease.
Asian imports dropped 3.3% in 2012 to 21.6m teu while exports dropped 0.9% to 44.7m teu.
On a global scale, containerised exports increased 6.9% from November to December 2012 while Australian exports only increased 0.3%.
The increase has been largely attributed to an 11% increase in exports from Asia in December.
